Drafting Plans...

[mcb1180]

I'm not actually a wood worker, but I'm hoping to find some one who can help me with a project.

Here's my dilemma...

I am interested in having a quilting frame built for a friend as a Christmas gift. All the plans I have located thus far are for quilt frames that hold the materials so that the quilter can hand stitch the layers together. However, what I am looking for allows you to use a regular sewing machine to quilt the same said layers. I know the industry has a version that you can purchase, but I would really like to have one built and stained to match my friends quilt studio, unfortunately I have been unable to find what I am looking for. Does anyone know if plans for what I am looking for are available anywhere on the market? Or is there anyone who has CAD and might be able to create the plans for me?

Here's a link to the website of a company that makes what I'm looking for, just in case. Any ideas are welcome so please feel free to e-mail me directly divas_sis@hotmail.com

http://graceframe.com/gfxoops/modules/sample_module_2/

Thanks so much. :wsmile:

 

[gator]

Not to discourage you, but I can see why the price tag on the version you posted the link to is $800. Perhaps it would be easier to purchase the unit and have someone here finish it for you in the finish you are looking for.

George

 

[Mike Davis]

Yeah, I was thinking more like $2000 to build one by hand. A factory setup with CNC or jigs and patterns can make them much faster and get volume pricing on the hardware.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

I concur with Mike and Gator. Besides, if you buy one of those units, your friend can buy and use the templates and other accessories and know they will fit.

 

[Tarhead]

My wife just found an awesome deal on a used 10ft. Inspira frame and special quilting machine. There are DIY quilting frames and they can be built much cheaper than the Grace frames BUT...she says there are a few things to consider if you and your friend are serious about this:
Stitch regulation is an issue unless your friend is very skilled. The ~$600 regulator boxes are finicky and some machines won't work with them.
The depth of the machine throat limits the size of the quilt and the amount of quilting space available at one time. A regular sewing machine won't allow much room.
Tolerance for the rails is very tight. Any slop causes nasty looking stitching. We didn't tighten one of the rails enough and being off <1/32" over the length of the frame caused the machine platform to bind. I don't have much faith in any wood (including Baltic Birch) staying this stable over the length you will need. Steel or Aluminum is needed for the rails and any section stretching the length of the frame.

I'll send you her contact info if you want to discuss in depth. She would be happy to help.

Mark

 

[cptully]

After looking over the site you linked, I must say that the gearing and bearings used on that would be extremely expensive both in $$ and time to replicate. I think that you would be much better off spending the $800 - $900 to buy this one and then spending a few hundred to have it disassembled and custom finished.

Chris

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

If you are going to machine quilt (free motion) you might as well go whole hog and do it with a long arm machine and a CNC table. "Real" quilters do it by hand, and the rest send it out to somebody who does it by machine. In quilt competitions and shows, machine piecing and machine quilting are distinguished from those done by hand. Of course a computer driven quilting machine runs about $12K. Then has anyone looked at the price of a top of the line Bernina lately!?!?!?

 

[mcb1180]

Guys I appreciate all the feedback, some of these issues are things we have already taken into consideration and some are new issues we'll have to deal with as they come. As far as the labor and costs, this is actually a joint project with her dad, he's willing to do all the work, but he's not so great at building from scratch, which brings us back full circle.

Mark, if you could e-mail me your wife's contact information, just in case we decide to scrap this whole idea, that would be great.

Alan, I'm very new to quilting so I'm not familiar with all the terminology and I have no clue what a CNC table is. Now my friend has been quilting for years, and she hand quilts about 3/4 of all the quilts you does, but occasionally she'll do a charity quilt or a last minute gift and will have to machine quilt it. However, she's been trying to increase her free motion skills because lately she has more ideas than she has time to hand quilt even a small fraction of them. Ideally and ultimately I know she'd love to have a computer driven machine. Unfortunately no matter how often we wish for it, we still don't live in an ideal world LOL. So on to plan G ... (Or are we at plan H. Oh man I've lost track again...)

Again thanks for all your help.

C

 

[Tarhead]

C,
I sent details last night. Check your spam filter if if 's not showing in your inbox.
Check out http://buildaquiltframe.com
This site is a little squirrley but the frame he built looks doable with standard home center supplies but I would use Baltic Birch for the smaller components and sub hardwood instead of pine for a sturdier, nicer look.

An alternate you may want to consider is buying a Grace or other wooden frame used. Mary Ann says these show up regularly in the sewing swap and sale section in her home quilting discussion group. Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homequiltingsystems/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1
and join the group. Lots of frames for <$500 including extras.